Smile!
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: In the end, that was all Hide had ever really wanted: to make Ken Kaneki smile. ***ANIME BASED. MAJOR SPOILERS!***


**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TOKYO GHOUL! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

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Black hair.

Steel grey eyes.

Nose in a book.

Sitting alone on the side of a grassy hill, the sun setting beyond the horizon.

Hide watched the boy curiously, watched him lick his thumb and turn the page of his book, silent, unaware that he was being watched. Hide paused, waited a beat or two, then spoke.

"I don't mean to intrude, but why are you always reading books by yourself at school?"

The boy, around his same age, turned and stared at him, almost like he was nervous. "Is that wrong?" he asked quietly, but genuinely, like he was actually worried reading books was wrong.

Hide didn't miss a beat. "Nah, you're _fine_ ," he said, and he moved over and sat down beside him in the warm grass. "Let me shoot straight with ya, I just moved here and I haven't made any pals yet, sooo...I was wondering if you'd be my friend."

The boy's grey eyes widened only somewhat, but he didn't hesitate. "Yeah, sure thing," he said.

"Wow, really!?" said Hide, grinning enthusiastically. He honestly hadn't expected it to be that easy, gaining the friendship of this shy bookworm. "My name's Hideyoshi Nagachika, but that's a mouthful. You can call me Hide!"

"Okay. My name's...Kaneki," said the boy, and as they shook hands, both Hide and the boy Kaneki smiled.

…

" _Smile, Hide! When the world is dark, smile! Smile at someone new, smile at someone you already know, it doesn't matter either way. After all, you never know what that smile could do for them!"_

That's what Hide's mother had always told him. That's what she'd told him when they first moved and faced a new life. A new home, a new neighborhood, and new friends. With this attitude, Hide faced the world. With this attitude, he made his first and best friend, Ken Kaneki.

With a smile.

…

Soaking wet hair.

Tired eyes.

Hugging himself.

Standing outside Hide's front door, dripping wet, shivering.

For a few moments, Hide stood there, gaping, hand still on the doorknob from when he'd swung the door open. And then, after another moment, he shouted, _"Holy crap, Kaneki!"_ , and he grabbed Kaneki by the forearm and yanked him into the house.

For the first time since retiring to bed that night, Hide was glad he hadn't been able to fall asleep, or else he probably wouldn't have heard the shy knocks of his friend on the front door.

His intuition was almost too good sometimes.

"You could have called me, you idiot!" Hide said furiously, dragging Kaneki into the living room, flicking on lights as he passed. "What were you going to do, stand there all by yourself all night?"

Kaneki swallowed thickly. Didn't answer.

Hide sighed. "You're lucky I heard you knocking," he said, and he pushed Kaneki onto the nearest couch and headed for the closet, grabbing as many spare blankets as he could carry.

"I'm sorry," Kaneki said quietly.

Hide paused a moment, half-way through closing the closet door, and turned to look at his friend. Frankly, Kaneki looked quite pathetic right now, soaking wet from dripping hair to soggy tennis shoes, a threadbare scarf around his neck and a definitely-not-rainproof-jacket around his shoulders. But Hide didn't really care. Pathetic or not, they were still buddies.

"What for?" said Hide, making his way over to the couch, throwing one, two, three blankets around his best friend. "You know I'm not really angry with you, right?" He paused; refrained. "Well, okay, I am, but not because you came over here in the middle of the night. I'm more angry that you didn't call me beforehand. I would have been able to get the blankets ahead of time."

Kaneki swallowed again.

"I told you, my house is your house!" said Hide. "Come whenever, and I seriously mean whenever! I'll even give you a spare key if you want!" And, getting to his feet again, flashing Kaneki a toothy smile, he headed into the kitchen, flicking on another two lights. "So, what do you think about hot chocolate? You like that kind of stuff, don't you?"

Kaneki watched him, then nodded, bringing his knees to his chest. Hide set about making the hot cocoa, putting the kettle on the stove and grabbing hot cocoa packets out of the pantry.

Within no time, Hide brought two prepared mugs over to the couch and pressed one into Kaneki's hands.

"So, anyways," said Hide, taking up the spot beside Kaneki on the couch, "what _were_ you doing outside? In this weather? Not to mention this _hour_."

Kaneki licked his lips. Water dripped from his hair, down his face, and onto the floor, and he shivered. "My aunt kicked me out again," he said flatly, sipping the beverage.

Hide groaned and flung himself back onto the couch, nearly spilling hot chocolate all over himself. Kaneki's aunt. Hide had met her once or twice, and she was not, repeat, _NOT_ someone Hide would want to share a _sidewalk_ with, much less a _house_. But it wasn't like Kaneki really had the choice. He was fourteen, and his mother died when he was ten. He was too young to get an apartment of his own, but he really didn't have any other family to take care of him.

Four years.

Kaneki had been living with his aunt for four years.

Tonight wasn't the first night Kaneki had showed up on Hide's porch out of the blue. Actually, it'd happened quite often, and Kaneki was always the same; never told anyone he was coming, never made a big deal out of it.

Even though, in Hide's opinion, he should have.

"Your aunt again, really?" said Hide, and he said it lightly, because he knew if _he_ were to make a big deal out of it, it would only make Kaneki uncomfortable. "Sheesh, man, that sucks. I've told you, you can always move in with me."

Kaneki was shaking his head before Hide even finished speaking. "No, I'm fine," he said, reaching up to touch his chin.

Hide mentally cursed. That stupid gesture; the one that, Hide had discovered over the years, meant Kaneki had something to hide.

But Hide didn't elaborate. Instead, he smiled, like he always did, because he knew Kaneki didn't need a lecture; he needed a friend. "Oh, well, remember, my offer still stands," said Hide, elbowing Kaneki in the ribs.

"Ow!" Kaneki said, but despite the protest, he still smiled. A genuine smile, and Hide would know; Hide was the master of smiles. "Thanks, Hide."

"You bet, man."

A beat.

"But seriously, Kaneki, let me know next time you plan on taking a midnight stroll in the rain, alright? I'll bring an umbrella."

And Kaneki laughed. "Okay."

...

Kaneki was always a quiet person. Too quiet, perhaps. He was kind and shy, never tried to get in anyone's way, and to some people this might have been pleasant.

But not to Hide. To Hide, the only thing this was was _annoying_.

He wished Kaneki would open up to him a bit more. He wished Kaneki would tell him when something was wrong, or when he needed help, especially when it had to do with his family. After all, Kaneki's father had been dead for as long as he could remember, and Kaneki's mother had died somewhat recently. Kaneki's aunt was jealous of Kaneki because he did better in school than her own son did, and in turn, treated Kaneki badly.

Hide knew this, but he didn't stay on the subject long if ever it was brought up. If he knew one thing, it was that Kaneki didn't like talking about his family, and that was enough for Hide.

So when Kaneki was down, Hide smiled enough for both of them, and it always seemed to boost Kaneki's spirits, if even slightly.

...

Tousled hair.

Eyepatch.

Standing in the plaza, looking around, surveying the area like he'd never seen it before.

As soon as Hide spotted him, he was running, and before Kaneki even had the chance to see who was approaching him so quickly, Hide launched himself forward, hugging Kaneki tightly from behind.

But it didn't last long.

He still had a bit of a bone to pick (with a smile, of course). He grabbed Kaneki by the wrists, swung him around, and smacked both hands down on his friend's shoulders.

"Dang it, Kaneki! How long are you gonna skip class, you jerk!? Do you know how hard it's been for me!? If you don't come back soon I'm gonna die of loneliness. Rabbits die from loneliness, Kaneki!" He shook his friend back and forth. "They DIE, you hear me!?"

He'd been texting Kaneki non-stop ever since he got out of the hospital, and Kaneki rarely replied. At first, Hide brushed it off and decided to give his friend some space, because Kaneki had been in a serious accident - gotten organ transplants to boot - but now, he was kind of annoyed.

He'd missed having his first and best friend around.

Kaneki put up his hands defensively. "Whoa, easy," he said, and Hide loosened his grip on his shoulders. "Sorry, man." And he smiled weakly.

Fakely.

Sadly.

And Hide wanted to do something, to turn that fake smile into a genuine one, but he didn't push it. Kaneki had gone through so much lately; he didn't want to force him into anything too quickly.

So instead, he smiled and chose a different subject. "What's with the eyepatch?" he asked. "Is that some new trend I'm not hip to?"

Kaneki looked away, sorrow in his eyes - okay, maybe not eye _s,_ plural, because his left eye was covered, hidden from view - and Hide made a note of this.

He'd have to find out what was wrong with his friend, soon.

…

Hide figured it out that same day.

Kaneki was a ghoul.

At first, the small selfish part of Hide (yes, there _was_ a small selfish part of him, despite how much he hated it) was offended that Kaneki hadn't confided in him beforehand...but then, the reasonable side of him said it only made sense.

In the end, Hide couldn't be angry. Kaneki knew him well enough to know that Hide would never tell anyone he was a ghoul, so Hide could only assume Kaneki wasn't trying to protect himself.

He was trying to protect Hide. Trying to protect Hide from other ghouls who might think of him as a threat, since he knew who - _what_ \- Kaneki really was.

For this reason, Hide never brought it up in conversation (and anyways, how could he?). Instead, he kept smiling, like nothing was wrong.

And in the end, there wasn't anything more he could have done.

...

White, matted hair.

Shut eyes.

Blood seeping through a torn black uniform, from a large, gaping wound in his stomach.

Lying on snow covered ground. Flakes stained red from blood.

Hide swallowed thickly, tried not to panic for a moment or two (Kaneki was a ghoul, which meant he had _insane_ regeneration abilities - give or take a few minutes and the wound would no longer exist).

But he really couldn't help it. He couldn't help panic. Because even though Kaneki was half-ghoul, he was still half-human, and he was still Hide's best friend.

Hide hurried over as fast as he could and knelt by Kaneki, reaching out and grasping his best friend's cold wrist.

He could feel a pulse.

He sighed in relief.

"Dang it, Kaneki," he whispered, barely audible, and for a moment he laughed weakly in relief. _"Dang it…"_

He rose to his feet, grabbed Kaneki under the arms, steeled himself, and began dragging the unconscious person (ghoul, half-ghoul - Hide couldn't have cared less) somewhere safe, all the while wishing Kaneki would open his eyes.

Wishing Kaneki would smile.

Wishing Kaneki would be, for once, happy.

He wasn't so sure how he managed it, but he did either way, dragging himself and his unconscious friend through the door of the coffee shop Anteiku. He released his grip on Kaneki and straightened up, taking a moment or two to breathe. Kaneki was a lot heavier than he looked.

Time passed. Not a whole lot of time, but enough time. He knew the instant Kaneki regained consciousness, because he heard shuffling in that dark coffee shop, and heavy breathing accompanied it. Hide turned away from the coffee maker momentarily, then poured two cups - one for himself, and one for Kaneki.

"You know, making coffee's a lot harder than it looks," he said, taking the two cups and stepping from behind the counter, into the light.

Kaneki stared at him.

Hair a shock of white. One eye silvery grey, the other black and red - the eye of a ghoul. Leaning heavily against the wall, one hand bracing against it, the other hand clutching the wound on his stomach.

Hide smiled, faintly but genuinely. "Yo, Kaneki."

Kaneki blinked wide, horrified eyes at him, mouth hanging open.

One human eye.

One ghoul eye.

Kaneki was half-ghoul, and half-human.

But still entirely and wholly Hide's best friend.

…

"You've become quite the celebrity, my friend!" said Hide, getting to his feet, bracing his hand against the table in the coffee shop. Blood dripped on the floor from both parties, and Kaneki's wound was already healing. "Do you wanna know your code-name?"

Hide didn't give Kaneki a chance to answer. Instead, he raised his hand and covered one eye, grinning. He waited a beat, and then announced it dramatically.

"Eyepatch!"

Kaneki only watched him, and then, he smiled. Hide lowered his hand, his toothy grin never once wavering.

"You stylin' it up?" Hide asked.

Kaneki lowered his head, his white hair falling into his eyes. His shoulders shook, and for a moment, Hide thought maybe he was crying, because he couldn't see his friend's face, but then, he realized Kaneki wasn't crying at all.

He was laughing.

For the first time in a long time, Kaneki was actually laughing, and to Hide, it was the most wonderful sound in the world. His best friend, who'd underwent so much, from losing his father, losing his mother, living with an aunt who despised him, becoming a ghoul, hated and hunted by society, forced to kill so he could live (like a twisted, gruesome form of self-defense), was smiling.

And in the end, that was all Hide had ever really wanted.

To make Ken Kaneki smile.

* * *

 **I'm new to the Tokyo Ghoul fandom. My older brother recently got me to binge watch it with him, and let me tell you, I fell in love with it. Okay, so it was kinda gruesome and unsettling at times, but it was still an amazing show and I'd definitely watch it again. And I haven't read the manga for it yet, but I'll probably end up doing it eventually.**

 **Okay, so I'm really here because _someone_ *glares at fictional character's grave* couldn't stay alive *cough* *cough* you guys know who *cough*. This story is dedicated to two of my favorite Tokyo Ghoul characters, Hide and Kaneki. Since this is my first Tokyo Ghoul fanfic, I'd totally get it if you guys don't like it, but I did my best to stay true to the characters. **

**Oh, and I gave you all the big SPOILER WARNING at the top of the page, because I know if I'd been spoiled before finishing Tokyo Ghoul, I would have been SOO SO SO SO SO mad, so I hope I gave you guys an adequate warning. :)**

 **Anyways, please please please please PLEASE let me know what you think about this; it's my first fanfic in this fandom, and although I'm not sure whether or not I'll write more drabbles/one-shots, I might if enough people like this story and my style. :)**

 **So, anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story! :)**


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